Disciplinary Officer
A Disciplinary Officer, informally known as a member of the Field Police, are specialist political officers of the Legiones Astartes who serve as enforcers of a Legion Reclusiarch's will. As members of the Discipline Corps of the Imperialis Militant they are empowered to use any means necessary to ensure the loyalty and moral purity of their fellow legionaries, including overriding or even executing a commanding officer if necessary, and so is regarded with a mixture of revulsion and admiration by the rank-and-file battle-brothers of a Space Marine Legion. History The origins of this ancient and oft-maligned Order hearkens back to the bygone era of the Great Crusade. During that time, as the Great Crusade continued the expansion of the nascent Imperium into the galaxy, the discovery of the Primarchs and their newly adopted homeworlds helped to stem an impending crisis that was not widely known of at the time outside of the exalted ranks of the Imperium's ruling War Council: namely, the diminishing stability of the gene-seed itself through over-use and the increasing need for ever greater numbers of Space Marines in the field. This was a matter that only worsened as the Great Crusade pushed ever wider afield into the galaxy. Imperial forces could no longer be concentrated as easily as before, and attrition was taking its toll as years of near-constant battle became decades. To relent the pace of the Great Crusade's progress was for the Emperor simply not an option and so the simple truth was that more Space Marines were needed and they needed to be created faster than before. Utilising accelerated gene-culturing techniques, several Legionaries were created in record time, but the shortcuts taken in their creation would have unforeseen flaws. Though troubling, this was not unexpected, as the High Lords of Terra were well aware of some troubling traits that had begun to manifest themselves within some of the later founding Legions, particularly a tendency to display a high degree of independence, preferring death over subservience to an authority from outside their Legion of any kind. Others were prone to physical or mental collapse in the heat of battle. It is now believed by Imperial scholars that the constant grinding warfare, coupled with having witnessed firsthand, atrocity and unthinkable carnage at the behest of distant and uncaring masters, caused many individual Legionaries, whole squads, and sometimes, Great Companies to secede from the Imperium. These warriors were often hardened veterans who had survived against all odds and trusted only in the man next to them in the line of battle. For brothers they would fight and die and strive to see another dawn, but for great cause or Primarch, and the lies and whispers of lords and potentates alike, they had nothing but scorn. Accelerated gene-culturing techniques, coupled with accelerated psycho-indoctrination that was often utilised during that time, were often to blame for these deficiencies and breakdown in discipline. Birth of the Discipline Corps To ensure discipline was maintained within the rank and file of the Space Marine Legions, many within the Chaplain corps advocated the use of a political officer class to help a Legion's Chaplains enforce discipline and oversee the morale of their fellow battle-brothers, instilling within them the values and beliefs of their Legion and promote the veneration or in rare cases the actual worship of the Emperor of Mankind. With the final approval of the Council of Terra in 135.M30, the Discipline Corps of the Imperialis Militant were created to ensure control and discipline and to improve morale of the rank-and-file Legionaries of a Space Marine Legion and to ensure proper compliance of regulations were adhered to at all times. Disciplinary Officer Duties Disciplinary Officers are hand-picked by the Legion's Reclusiarch. These are usually battle-hardened veterans who adhere strongly to the tenets of loyalty and discipline and often display an abiding faith in the Emperor of Mankind. These individuals are considered Chaplains-in-training, and are accorded the proper respect by the rank-and-file legionaries. In battle, the Chaplains will be at the forefront of a Legion's battlelines, while Disciplinary Retributor Squads typically operate as independent five-man squads. These Disciplinary Officers serve to maintain order in the ranks, both during and away from battle, as well as curb any attempts to disregard or circumvent orders. They often interact and support attached Imperialis Auxilia units by organising stragglers, re-grouping broken units, and ensuring discipline is maintained at all times. Displaying the power of life and death, a power they are infamously quick to exercise in its extreme, they are known for carrying out summary punishments for any merely human forces who they feel lacks militancy or discipline. They are also charged with providing overwatch of a particular unit or squad that has transgressed, but are considered redeemable, in the eyes of the Emperor. While Disciplinary Officers are authorised to help direct a Space Marine squad that has lost their sergeant during a battle, many of their fellow legionaries often hold them in contempt, seeing them as over-glorified 'nursemaids', but will nevertheless comply with their position of authority. Disciplinary Officers are also charged with assisting in the apprehension and return of those individuals or squads of recalcitrant legionaries who attempt to desert, help support the Imperial military courts of justice, and assist in collecting and transporting prisoners of war. Disciplinary Officer Appearance Disciplinary Officers Colours Disciplinary Officers primarily wear black coloured power armour. They also wear a red coloured helmet with an alternating yellow and black vertical stripe. Disciplinary Officer Badge The Disciplinary Officers wear the twin flame-blade insignia of the 'Sanghauta' which is prominently displayed upon their right shoulder pauldron and on back banners. This icon is presumably of ancient Terran origin, and is also utilised by the Discipline Masters and Provost Corp of the Imperialis Militant. This symbol carries with it a very definite meaning; it displays clearly the power of life and death every Disciplinary Officer of a Legion has over their brothers, and are marked by the distinctive emblem of their oft-maligned Order. Category:Imperium Category:Space Marine Legions